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Joining the Campaign for Clearer Sizing

So, you’ll remember from yesterday’s post that I was a bit miffed by Evans’ offerings and how it seemed like they’d de-sized recently, yes? Well, there’s a campaign set up by Retro Chick to try to get retailers to change the way they label clothes, and to get some uniformity to sizing. Which is well needed in my book. You can read the original post here

So, here are my own measurements, yes I’m going to be brave and post them for the world to see….but I’ve measured myself so they may not be entirely accurate!

51″-49″-62″ or for centimetres 129 – 125- 160. Which luckily for this precise second means nothing, but I’m about to do a few minutes researching and then essentially live blog what this means in terms of the retailers I favour.

So my bust should apparently fit in between a size 28-30. Which shows you that their clothing has *definitely shrunk* as I have clothes that are mostly three to four years old and are a size 26-28 and fit, in fact are loose.

My waist should fit in a size 28-30 according to their website. Which is completely wrong, given that I’ve size 26-28 trousers for a while that fit fine. So dead on a 28 I’ll accept, but not being over that as I’m not!

Again with my hips they’re telling me that I’d a size 32…which is so flipping wrong!!

NEW LOOK

Here they say their size 26 would fit someone 133 cm/52.5 inches, and I did do a little rounding up on my figures, just to make life easier, so I’d fit into it. Which is exactly right, as its what I’ve worn from them, own from them and when I try stuff on I fit in with. So, New Look you get a lovely gold star for continuing size consistency!

My waist again gains them lots of brownie points for me being a spot on 28….which is what I thought I was, and have always been with them, at least in the last five or six years!

My hips are apparently off the scale….so no comments at all about that!

Their size guide is definitely better than the other two, as they give you a picture to make sure you get the sizing right….

My bust is dead on a size 26 here, which makes me so happy there’s no 28 needed to be tagged on the end! Although, I’d imagine there is less uniformity to the clothing, and my past experiences with them would definitely agree with this.

My waist once again is apparently between a size 30-32…..I’m getting very depressed now that I’m in the wrong size clothing and its only because I’ve owned stuff for ages and they’ve gotten looser with washing that my size 28 trousers fit!

Even more alarmingly my 62/160 size hips will only fit in something somewhere between a size 34-36. I’m about ready to commit hari-kari now!

Comforting, again my bust is supposed to be a size 26-28 here. Never purchased from them, but to be told I’m the size I think I am always makes me feel better!!

Apparently my waist is a size 30….which given the last few, being somewhere closer to what I think I am is a tad more comforting!!

But back in terrible territory – my hips are putting me in 34-36 size, which folks, you’ve seen pictures of me, I definitely don’t look like my bottom half is three sizes bigger than my top half….I’m overweight, that I’ll accept, but I’ll eat my prized handbag collection if I’m proportioned like they say!

So according to Evans’ sister sire, I dont fit in their clothes if I was intending to get my bust into stuff. Their largest size is a 26, which I actually thought would fit me, but as they say you’d need to be 129/50, that would count me out. With my waist and hips, I’d be counted out entirely, but I’d actually expected that as I’ve thought my bottom half is somewhere between a 26 and 28 so I’d not fit in something solely a 26.

So once again my bust would fit in their tops, as their guide tells me their measurements would fit me in a size 26. Which makes my heart leap with joy as it means all those tops I’ve drooled over would actually fit. Yay!!

But sad times for the junk in my trunk…..my hips and waist aint going anywhere near their size 26. I’ve never bought anything from them, so anyone else that is a size 26-28 or at least thinks they are, I’d be interested to know if this is indeed accurate!

Well Marks and Spencers I’m sorely disappointed as I’d always thought you were generous on sizing! My bust and hips slap me squarely in the size 28-30 category, and my hips aren’t going in anything according to them. I’ve not bought anything from them in a plus size before, so again, anyone that has any experience with their sizing, I’d be interested to know what matches up against their sizing guides!

Or George at Asda to be precise. You lot get a gold star for getting my bust size right….so if I was to buy something from them in a size 26, it would fit!! Which I’d be convinced of and had let others talk me out of thinking that way. Anyone else fancy a quick trolley dash around there?

But sad face time at their waist and hip measurements….I’ll not be buying a pair of bargain Asda jeans any time soon!

They get an honourable mention in that my bust size would put me in their size 26-28, or 2xl to use their parlance. But boohiss for the fact that they supposedly go up to a size 32 and yet my waist and hips would be so far off the charts I’d be in a size 38 according to them I reckon!!

ANN HARVEY

Oh how I completely and utterly love you!! According to them, my bust fits in their size 2, or I’m smack between a 22-24….it made me nearly fall off my chair in shock!! My waist would be a size 3 or bang on a size 28, which I’ll settle for, and my hips apparently would be a size 4 or between a size 30-32. However, their petite range is apparently for anyone under the size of 5ft3, so I’m thinking the fact I’m 5ft7, my bottom half would probably fit in a size 3 all round. And that I can totally live with!

Finally a quick word on tights, which have been particularly tricky for me to fit into lately. Evans have now downgraded their size 3s to fitting a size 24-28, fact fans, and my measurements would put me apparently in the very upper end but should just fit. They don’t. Simply Be, Yours and One Stop Plus give no advice on the fit of their hosiery, so good luck figuring out if they fit! Marks and Spencers tights say that their x-large would fit up to a 48 waist, but they give the height you’d need to be between 5ft1 and 5ft9, so I may road test them and see that being two inches shorter will make up for being one inch wider! But my gold star goes to Asda, as not only will their tights fit, but their x-large would….which given they go up to a size xx-large fills my heart with joy….more need to run out and go on a trolley dash!

Now, the one thing I wish I could find is a government decided average to what a size should be…..partly so I could compare and contrast, but also so I could go ‘ha! look how wrong you all are!’. However I can only go on my own experiences, which are that I am a size 26-28 5ft7 pear shape. I’ve not put any weight on in the last few years, and if anything my measurements have gone done a tiny bit because clothes that were tight or fitted six months ago are now fitting or loose. And I don’t think that my washing them can stretch them so much to cause the difference that I am noticing. I reckon that the shrinking of our clothes sizes is much like the reduction in the size of a chocolate bar, or bag of crisps, or anything else on the market right now. It’s a fact that if you’re in a recession and you’ve reduced the prices to as low as you can go, the only thing to do is to reduce the amount of product made. So hence the ever shrinking clothes in our stores. I also think that the market leader Evans does have a lot to do with the sizing of stuff….almost all fat people, or even those that arent fat would site Evans as the main place for plus size clothing, and surely their competitors are going to follow in their footsteps? Not to mention that they are definitely the worst culprit for downsizing. Evans, I’m looking at you and shaking my head.

But it’s not all downbeat….I’d reckon that New Look is spot on with sizing, so big round of applause for them, and Asda is spot on, if even a bit generous. Which shows you that you don’t have to spend a fortune to make something that fits, and puts any arguments of cost being the main reason why the sizing is getting smaller, because you’d pay less for things in them so if they can manage to sell affordable clothes that fit properly, why can’t the market leaders do to? It really shows that it is completely possible to make clothes that are vaguely on trend and fit, so no arguments plus size retailers!! But then there is still an argument for more expensive but beautifully vut clothing as I think the place that would be the best and closest fit to actual sizing wouldbe Ann Harvey. And that I’m happy with as have been much drooling over their Anya range. I may have to go into an Ann Harvey or buy off the website and let you know if it does indeed fit like they say.

Ideally, I’d love to turn the clock back a few years, stock up on a load of Evans et al ‘s size 26-28 trousers and stick them in a time capsule, ready for me to wear now. Because personally I think that’s the only way we’ll get anything like what we should be wearing from them anytime soon. Size 32 my left foot!

I’d really really love to know what your experiences of sizing has been like….do clothes you buy these days fit? Or do you find stuff from a little while ago fits better? And maybe, just maybe if there’s enough of us that have the same experiences, plus size retailers will take notice. If not, I’m going to continue to tweet Mary Portas to take on plus sizes next. Shame that doesn’t seem to be working in the same way as a batphone!

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5 thoughts on “Joining the Campaign for Clearer Sizing”

When I moved to the UK I started buying clothes online and looked at size charts. ON the basis of my measurements I worked out that the sizes that actually fit me shouldn’t! No idea what they are doing. The only measurement that does seem to bear any relationship to what size will fit me is the chest one. I’ve got huge boobs and need to know that the top will fit over 120 cm.

Yeah, it definitely seems that the chest is the most accurate measurement. And I agree that these measurements they give in their size charts don’t always match the reality of the clothes themselves, so I’m definitely going to just stick with my usual method of trial and error and taking multiple sizes into changing rooms! I guess the point of the exercise was to point out that sizing has changed, not our bodies and how vast the difference between shops…all I want in life is to be able to know what fits me and that to be the same in every shop!!

We need this campaign in the US, too. I’m sick of ordering what’s supposed to be my size according to the measurements and looking like I’m swimming in jeans instead of wearing them. Bra measurements are ridiculous too. I can understand there some variety between different styles of any article of clothing, but it should at least match the measurements given by the manufacturer, truth in advertising and all that.